“The numbers are good,” said Pfc. Emily Hejna, public information officer for the Alton Police Department. “There were seven verbal warnings, mostly for vehicle violations, and a few of the incident reports were business checks, Berm area checks and parks checks” specific to that area.

Among the arrests last weekend were for outstanding warrants and drugs, she said.

“It was definitely not a (fixed) roadside safety check,” with police instead moving throughout the riverfront area, she said.

She could not say how many of the charges and police contacts with motorists involved Missourians or people from other states.

Alton Police Chief Jason “Jake” Simmons on Jan. 12 had announced the extra patrols were forthcoming after a recent spate of carjackings in Alton, Granite City and Pontoon Beach that allegedly were committed by people from St. Louis. Authorities believe the incidents could be related.

Alton had an armed robbery of a Milton area woman with the same suspects allegedly then stealing a running, unattended Cadillac Escalade across town on Jan. 2. Missouri authorities arrested the St. Louis males after they fled across the Clark Bridge. There also was an armed carjacking of a woman’s Kia Sportage sport utility vehicle in Alton on Jan. 11 that remains unsolved.

There also have been five bank robberies in the region, all by a man fitting the same description — in Alton, Godfrey, East Alton, Wood River and Edwardsville. Authorities, though, have not identified the robber and do not know if he and any accomplices are from Missouri.

“We love our neighbors to the west, we like being in close proximity, but when you are close to neighbors you share more than the good,” she said.

With extra personnel on duty last weekend, an Alton canine unit was available to go assist other law enforcement agencies in a pursuit and arrest of a man wanted on a U.S. Marshal’s Service warrant. The pursuit started in East Alton at 1:42 a.m. Sunday, went to Hartford and Alton and ended in Jerseyville with his arrest, she said.

The numbers Hejna provided from last weekend represent additional officers working in specific time blocks from about 3 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12 until 1 a.m. Monday Jan. 15. “It wasn’t all day, every day,” she said. “For the amount of time dedicated to this, they are good numbers.”

Hejna declined to say how many additional officers worked the enhanced patrols, but said Simmons was one of those working the shifts.

As Simmons said last week, Hejna said area law enforcement agencies are working closely together to keep the region safe, and to cooperate in solving the violent crimes that have occurred as they may be related.

“We are making every effort possible to make sure the city is safe, but we need citizens’ help,” she said.

“Our department is at its lowest number of officers, or close to it, and we can’t be everywhere at once,” Hejna said. “We’ve been working with a low number of officers, and we are working on building the numbers back up because of budget constraints. If someone sees a car driving around their neighborhood that they don’t recognize, we ask them to call us. We would rather this be nothing, than have someone come home and be robbed” as what happened to a woman Jan. 2 on Oak Drive.